For Life
by Celtic karate
Summary: In place of the episode For Warrick, will use elements of that episode but with a happier and shipper ending. Cath/Warrick and GSR
1. Chapter 1

A/N: My way of allowing my wishful thinking to become real. I really wish Gary hadn't gotten involved in drugs and got caught and his contract voided. So this is my take on what should have happened after For Gedda and a new way to handle For Warrick. My first foray into the CSI fandom. Yo!Bling(that is what Cath and Warrick Relationship is called right?) and GSR is apparent here.

For Life 1

Happiness wasn't the right word to describe what Warrick Brown felt at that moment. Euphoria was closer, but still didn't completely cover it. He was free. The team banded together proving that Warrick Brown was innocent in the Murder of Lou Gedda, and that there was at least one mole inside the department. He sat in the diner eating their crappy food and drinking their delicious coffee.

Other members of the department sat around the table that held the Graveyard shift of Las Vegas CSIs. Catherine, sitting across from Warrick, was telling some sort of story and Grissom, at the 'head' of the table, was embarrassed and covered his face as the others laughed. She further complained about not having turkey bacon, though Nick rightly pointed out that it wouldn't make the food better.

"Fortunately, we don't come here for the food." Grissom pointed out.

"No," Catherine agreed before sipping her coffee.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned; there's no place I'd rather be," Warrick said smiling at his co-workers, friends and his remaining family members, slightly feeling incomplete with Sara's absence. Catherine smiled at him, their eyes locking and sharing a moment.

Their waitress came up, asking if they required anything else. She left the check after they said no, and Warrick, as well as the others, noticed Nick's eyes trailing after the pretty red head. The toothpick he had in his mouth lowering as his lips lowered and relaxed as he stared.

"You still here," Warrick teased knocking the back of his hand against Nick's shoulder.

"Huh, he snapped back to reality. He laughed a little sheepishly as the others just smirked at him. Warrick grabbed the check and Grissom, who usually paid on Friday's when they came in, reached for Warrick to hand the bill to him.

"I got this," Warrick said as he tilted to get to his wallet in his back pocket.

"Well thank you Warrick." Grissom told him. He knew that arguing wouldn't make a bit of difference. Warrick wanted to show the team his thanks and he wanted to do that by buying their meal. He started to gather the loose cash he had in his wallet.

While he did that Grissom decided it was time to head home, he left the diner and Greg soon followed. Greggo had to catch a flight to California to meet with publishers for his book so he too headed out, making sure to stay a few feet behind Grissom, who still made him nervous. Catherine had stood up and stayed by Warrick's side.

Her arm wrapped around his side, causing his heart to skip a beat, though he tried to hide it as he always did.

"You ever need anybody to talk to; you know how to get a hold of me huh?" She asked her face dangerously close to his.

"Yeah," it answered her question and was the only thing he could get out as his sensed were overwhelmed with the glory that was Catherine Willows. "Thanks," he managed to get out in another breath as she kissed his cheek, allowing him to return the favor.

He was doing a little happy dance inside his head as he kissed the soft porcelain of her cheek. He almost missed Nick saying goodbye, and he half-expected her to kiss Nick's cheek too, but was surprised when she lightly punched him before leaving the diner, heading for her home and daughter. The teenager would still be asleep and would wake up when her mother came home and checked on her.

Nick wanted him to get a beer, but Warrick wanted to shower, and encouraged Nick to go after the red headed waitresses. Nick told Warrick how glad he was that Warrick was alright and watched Warrick leave the dinner.

Warrick's car was in the alley between the 24 hour diner and the pool hall/bar next door. Warrick was truly a happy man. He was free, he wouldn't be charged with murder, hopefully he still had his job, and Catherine kissed him.

He smiled as he walked to his car. Ever since Nick had been kidnapped, Warrick felt like his life was in a downward spiral. He married Tina at the drop of a hat after finding Nick and getting him to the hospital, same hospital she worked at. Then he had to tell Catherine and hear her reluctant but impassioned confession that she had secretly desired him, called him her 'fantasy.' Then he discovered that she had been cheating on him with her ex in the hospital on call rooms. He forgave her when she transferred to another hospital on the opposite side of town; this one was smaller and only offered a bare minimum of services. She had even gotten the Graveyard shift there so she could be at home at the same time, hopefully, as Warrick and spend time with him, repairing the damage she did to their marriage.

Warrick had even admitted that he too had caused their marriage some damage with his work schedule and expressed his hope that being on a similar schedule as her would help repair all damages. And for a while it had, they grew closer than ever before.

But it was not to last. He came home early one night, a night she had off and found her screwing a random stranger. He flipped out and everything spiraled further downhill since, culminating in his arrest for murder. Now that everything was over, he had purged everything, he felt that he should try and live his life the way he wanted, and that meant Catherine and Lindsey. He wanted to be family, to have a family. Also knowing that the newborn baby Tina had just given birth to was his son, he was paying a lawyer to fight for custody and parental rights so he could be the father he never really had to his own son.

He got into his car, smiling as he planned to call the florist when he made it back to his new apartment, having given the old one to Tina in the divorce. He wanted to have a bouquet of roses delivered to Catherine and some tulips or daises delivered for Lindsey. He smiled at the thought before starting the car, his favorite station coming on with a song he was vaguely familiar with. He was about to put the car in drive, after turning on his headlights when someone knocked at his passenger side window.

He looked up to see the undersheriff, Jeff McKeen at his window.


	2. Chapter 2

For Life 2

Greg got back to his apartment and packed a bag before hopping in the shower before taking a cab to the airport, on his way to LA to talk to a publishing company that had expressed interest in his book. They had paid for him to fly out that weekend and talk business and numbers. He was paying for a cheap motel nearby, saving most of his money for food and cab fare. He made it with plenty of time to move through enhanced security and boarded his plane and fell asleep while waiting for takeoff.

Catherine had also made it safely home. She closed and locked the door behind her before tossing her keys into the bowl on the entry table. She shed her jacket and hung it up on the hook above the bowl before sliding her heels off and stashing her favorite pair under the table so Lindsey could wear them they next days as she asked. Lindsey school bag was on the ground next to the table and her dance bag was next to it. Lindsey had inherited her mother's talent and love of dancing, though thankfully she had promised her mother that she would never dance the kind of dancing Catherine did to make a living before becoming a CSI. She headed up the stairs and silently opened the door to her daughter's room.

It had become a ritual when Lindsey had gotten caught hitch hiking to see her grandfather that Catherine woke her up when she got home from work and they spent a few hours before Catherine went to sleep and Lindsey to school. Catherine kissed her daughter's cheek before shaking her shoulder gently. Lindsey woke up and smiled before pulling a hoodie over her head and following her mom downstairs to watch a recorded TV show. They talked as Catherine helped paint her daughter's nails before Lindsey made herself some food and headed off to school, kissing her mother's cheek and allowing the house to quiet down so Catherine could get some sleep before waking up when Lindsey made it home from school and her theater rehearsal.

Nick had taken his friend's advice and had moved over to the bar seating and started a conversation with their waitress before she slid a napkin with her number on it to him. He smiled before leaving and heading to his car, opposite from Warrick's and heading home to shower and sleep before returning to the lab. He hoped he could get a call in to Sam, their waitress, before entering the lab or he'd stop by later when she just started working and talk to her for his meal break. He made it back to his place and showered before collapsing in bed and sleeping.

Grissom had intended on heading home, but half way to his Denali he remembered that Hank, his dog, had to stay overnight at the vet's after being fixed and that he would be home alone. Now a few years ago, Grissom wouldn't have minded being home alone without a dog or a human there. But that was before Sara. She had gone with him the day after being pulled over and having a BA level well over legal and staying over at his place. Hank was just out of his 'puppy' phase and his previous owners had been stationed away from Nellis and they had to give him up. He hadn't been fixed as they had wanted to breed him and he hadn't been in since arriving at the shelter. Sara had fallen in love with him and so Grissom filled out the paperwork and a week later Hank came home with him. Then a couple years later Sara came home with him.

They had started their relationship after Brass' shooting and had been together ever since. At least until the job and her past demons had caught up with Sara. She left, leaving him with a kiss and a letter telling him where she was going and that she loved him and wanted to be the best for him and that she couldn't be that until she dealt with the demons in her past.

So instead of being alone at him he found a magazine stand next to his car, he hadn't noticed as he pulled up to head to the dive diner, but that was normal for him. He picked up the newest National Geographic and was flipping through it looking at the images before deciding if it was worth it to buy and actually read.

He barely heard his scanner go off with whatever it was, but as he looked up from the magazine with the intent to roll his shoulders the words pierced his brain. An officer was down not even a block from him. He didn't have his gun with him but he was more trained then most officers in first aide and first response so he could stay with the downed officer while the others gave chase to the suspect. So he started jogging towards the address. The thought crossed his mind that the others should have left by now, and then he panicked thinking that it could be one of his team. He turned to the alley and saw either Nick's or Warrick's car and sprinted to the car. He was barely aware of the music pumping from the speakers at the hall next door.

It was Warrick. The passenger side window was down and the driver's side had been blown out by the gunshot that pierced Warrick's neck. He pulled Warrick from the car and tried to administer first aide. McKeen ran up and panted something about being in pursuit, but Grissom's attention was on is officer who was glaring daggers at the undersheriff and tried to speak, blood pouring from his mouth. But the gunshot had done something to his vocal cords of the area around them and Warrick couldn't speak, but he could form the words and Grissom didn't let on that he read Warrick's lips. He pled with him to stay with him, but it wasn't working.

Grissom told him to hold on to see Sara, then tried Greg's name. Greg produced more of a response from the injured man and Grissom took the moment to holler for paramedics, causing McKeen to back away and request ETA on the paramedics. Grissom turned back to Warrick and asked him to hold on again, he threw Nick's name out as well as some of the detectives and his name again. He also threw out Lindsey's man and Catherine's name begging Warrick to hold on, to keep fighting.


	3. Chapter 3

For Life 3

Warrick had felt the pain of the bullet and started to succumb to the blackness of unconsciousness and death. He felt Grissom come up and pull him from the car. He struggled to remain conscious and focus on his boss, mentor, friend, father figure. But he was fading fast and he knew it. When the undersheriff came up and tried to warn Grissom about him but he couldn't speak and could only hope that his boss' talent for lip reading could help him right then. He heard Grissom throwing names of those he worked with at him, but it was Lindsey's name that caused him to really hold on to life, then Catherine's name conjured the image of the beautiful strawberry blonde and how she looked as she smiled at him before leaving the diner.

He had to fight, that kiss they shared in the diner could not be the only one they ever shared. She needed him, as he needed her. Warrick fought harder than he ever had before. But he succumbed to the blackness and could only hope and pray that he was only unconscious and not dead. He didn't want to die, he'd do anything to live, even give up on getting the real threat, the remaining mole in the department, anything if it meant living and seeing Catherine's face again.

The paramedics arrived and loaded him on the stretcher before hauling him and Grissom into the ambulance and speeding off to Desert Palms, hoping that they made it in time to save him. Grissom let them try to staunch the bleeding when they entered the bus and they were a little more successful then he and he turned his attention to the wound on his chest. It had already stopped bleeding and he cleaned it up, finding that it was only a graze and he would recover from that just fine, if he recovered from his neck wound too.

Miraculously they made it to Desert Palms and the EMTs and Grissom rushed in, one of the EMTs briefing a trauma surgeon on the patient before he was wheeled into surgery. Grissom sat down in a chair and stared mindlessly at the floor.

He started when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see the eyes of a nurse who had treated Brass. She had a clipboard and pen in one hand and asked him simple questions about Warrick and his medical state and any allergies he may have had. Grissom answered dully, adding that he had medical power of attorney, giving him the power to make decisions for Warrick if Warrick couldn't make them for himself. When she finished she handed the clipboard off to another nurse before leading him into the locker rooms and passing him paper bags to bag his clothes for evidence. She had even grabbed the red evidence tape they normally used for patients.

She helped him, via latex gloves, to take off the bloody clothes and place them in individual bags, he went through the paces mindlessly, his brain on Warrick. He was down to his underwear when she handed him a pair of black scrubs and pushed him to the shower stall. He pulled off his underwear after she left with his clothes and showered. He stepped under the warm spray and watched as Warrick's blood mixed with the water and swirled down the drain. Suddenly he became aware of where he was and started to wash himself before drying off via a towel the nurse left him and changed into the scrubs. When he finished dressing she came back in.

"Dr. Grissom, I took your clothes to the fridge we use to hold evidence like rape kits, your lab can pick it up via the nurses' station in the ER." She said and handed him a bottle of water and her cell phone.

"Your phone was in a pocket of your pants and therefore is evidence, as you know, so you can use my phone to call anyone you need. Don't worry about using up my minutes; just call whoever you need to." She told him and he nodded before concentrating. He called Brass first. Brass was already at the scene overseeing Dayshift with Ecklie. Ecklie passed on the message that he would make copies of everything and that Graveyard could look but not touch until they were needed, after the evidence had been collected. Grissom gave them both an update that Warrick had lived to make it to the hospital but he had no other news. He also passed on the message that his clothes were in the ER evidence locker ready to be picked up.

He then checked the phone's clock and realized everyone but Greg would be asleep and Greg would be on a plane for LA. He called Sara next and left her a message telling her Warrick was gravely injured. Then he called Nick, waking the man up. When he got the words out Nick promised to call a few of Warrick's grandmother's friends and let them know while Grissom handled the PD family. He then steadied himself to call Catherine.

She would take the news harder than Nick, harder then he himself would have. She was closer to Warrick and even though Grissom wasn't the most attentive or observant person, he still noticed that there was a close bond between the injured CSI and his deputy turned co-supervisor. He dialed her number, thankful that he had his team's numbers memorized, and waited for her to answer.

The phone rang seven times, then her impersonally voice mail reached his ears and he hung up, deciding to wait a few minutes before calling her again. He looked up to see the nurse enter.

"You'll be happy to know that Mr. Brown is stable. We're moving him up from the ER and the trauma bays to the surgical ward where he'll be worked on by our ENT surgeon to examine the extent of damage. We did have to medically induce a coma to help his body heal to recover, so if he wakes up from that he'll be in good shape and should hopefully make somewhat of a recovery.

She led him from the ER and up a couple floors to a nicely appointed waiting room, refusing her phone when he made to hand it back, and he remembered he needed to call Catherine again. She went back to work, letting him know that when Nick came in she'd lead him up to this waiting room. He sighed and hit redial and called Catherine's cell again.

"Willows," she answered on the fourth ring. She sounded tired and he knew he had definitely woke her up.

"Cath, I need you to come to Desert Palm, Warrick's been shot." He said in a grave voice.

"What, what did you say?" Her voice was panicked, and he could see her sitting up her eyes wide with the panic in her voice.

"Warrick was shot in the neck and the chest. He's in surgery. Nick is on his way and I'm waiting for a few hours before calling Greg. Could you also stop at my house and bring me a change of clothes, jeans and a shirt; mine were covered in Warrick's blood and have been collected as evidence." He threw at her again and heard her get up and rummage around before she spoke again.

"I'm on my way, be there within the hour providing Traffic isn't terrible." She hung up and Grissom sighed, she was shutting down her emotions, going into CSI mode and he hoped it wouldn't last too long and that she'd let someone in.

Thirty minutes later and the nurse returned with a frantic looking Nick. Nick approached Grissom and waited as the older man handed the phone back, finally done making the calls he had to make. She smiled and said that she'd go get an update on Warrick in an hour before leaving at the end of her shift. When she left Grissom told what happened to Nick who grew paler with each sentence.

He and Grissom sat next to each other and waited for Catherine and news to arrive.


	4. Chapter 4

For Life 4

Catherine Willows was frantic, not a feeling she commonly felt. Her best friend was injured and in surgery, her boss and friend sounded like death warmed over on the phone and said he'd been covered in Warrick's blood. She was shaking as she pulled jeans up over her hips and pulled a hoodie over her head before washing her face and pulling her hair back in a ponytail. She didn't bother with make-up and left her room hopping into her shoes before heading downstairs and grabbing her ID, and keys, making sure she had a key to Grissom's house before speeding over to his house and grabbing a pair of jeans and tee shirt from his first drawer.

She was aware of the sound of a closing car door outside the house but didn't pay attention until she left the house, locking the door behind her and saw Sara with a couple bags staring at her.

"Sara," She breathed, not quite sure if she should believe her eyes. But when the softly spoke words reached her ears the other woman dropped her bags and came over and hugged Catherine.

"I was already on my way out to visit when I got the message. Any word on how Warrick's doing?" She asked. Her voice slightly muffled from Catherine's shoulder, but the older woman heard her perfectly.

"Not that I know of, I just found out when Griss called me. He asked me to pick up a change of clothes for him, let's get your things inside then I'll drive you to the hospital." She said, turning around and unlocking the door and letting Sara drop her stuff off before the two women headed to Catherine's car and drove to the hospital, both cursing the traffic that clogged the roads and wishing that they had a siren to get there faster.

Sara took the opportunity to look at Catherine. Sara looked past the bags under the other woman's eyes knowing that this was a stressful situation and that she was probably woken up when Gil called her to tell her about Warrick. But Sara thought that she hadn't seen Cath this casual in many years. In fact it was probably for Lindsey's tenth birthday party that she could clearly recall Catherin looking as casual as she did now.

Sara had to admit that the older woman had an effortless beauty, for her she sat without make-up and without her professional clothes and she still held a beauty that shown. This was also the woman she first met when arriving in Las Vegas, not the uptight politically talented woman she was just a year ago as she left, not able to balance her personal demons, job and having a happy life with Gil. This was the woman who had killed for her daughter and for her CSI family; this was still the woman who would kill for her daughter, and Sara welcomed the memories of the time when everything was almost perfect.

They pulled into the parking lot and instead of trying to park as close to the building, Catherine took the first spot that could fit the Denali and parked in it. Sara watched as she gripped the steering wheel tightly in both hands and took multiple deep breaths.

Now that they were here, the panic had returned full force and Catherine was trying to contain it and manage to get into the building. Sara reached forward and rested a hand on the older woman's shoulder.

"No use panicking with no information. So let's get inside and get the information, then you can panic." Sara said and Catherine chuckled before nodding and leaving the car, leaving the keys in the ignition. Sara smiled before grabbing the keys and Gil's change of clothes before following Cath.

Sara slid the keys into the pocket on Cath's hoodie and threw her free arm around Cath's shoulders as they walked. Warrick had been rushed into the ER, so they started there and then headed up to the surgical floor after learning that he'd been moved up there for a more comprehensive surgery. They entered the waiting room three floors up and found Nick and Grissom sitting near the doorway to the ICU and recovery rooms, waiting for news.

Nick looked up at the sound of the door opening and closing and saw the two women before bolting out of his seat and hugging both of them. Gil had looked up when he felt Nick stand up and looked up to see Nick hugging two people. One of them was definitely Catherine, her strawberry blonde hair pulled back, but the other was more hidden, though the person did have brown hair.

When Nick pulled back, Gil received a shock; the other person was female, Sara. Then Gil was out of his seat and wrapping her in his arms. Nick and Catherine gave them some space and returned to the seats the boys had once occupied.

"First we almost lose you, then Brass, then Sara; now Warrick." She whispered and felt Nick hold her hand.

"Some level of danger comes with the job, but you're right, this seems a little too much." Nick echoed and after a few minutes of quiet Sara and Gil sat down next to the other two.

The next few hours were slow in passing. The previous nurses' replacement came out with whatever update she could give and Nick stepped out and called Greg and let him know what was going on. Greg said he would delay the meeting and head on back before checking in with Brass and Conrad. Grissom left to change into the clothes Catherine had brought him before returning to the others and their silent vigil.

Catherine left 45 minutes before Lindsey got out of school, calling her usual ride and saying that she would get her daughter. She knew something this bad couldn't be kept from Lindsey; the teen had thrown a fit when Sara's condition was kept from her and made her mother promise not to baby her if something bad happened to her CSI family. Catherine would honor that promise.

She was tense and pale as she waited in the line of cars in front of the high school. She'd already texted her daughter telling her to look for the Denali instead of the van that normally picked her up. Lindsey was surprised that her mother was awake and not still sleeping but she wouldn't complain about her mom picking her up.

However she knew something was up the minute she hopped into the passenger seat, after placing her school bag and dance bag in the backseat. Her mother normally dressed in designer or stylish jeans and a button up blouse, but today she was wearing jeans that she wore on her days off and a hoodie pulled over what was probably the tank top she slept in. Her hair was pulled up, and Lindsey knew she only did that when she was at a scene and she wasn't wearing make-up.

The simple things added to the pale skin tone and tense body language, told Lindsey that something was wrong.

"What is it mom?" She asked as her mother stopped at a Starbucks drive through and ordered her usual, Lindsey's usual and a couple cups of black coffee in a travel container for the others. When Catherine had paid and the door slid shut behind the barista she answered her daughter.

"Warrick's in the hospital." Was all she said and Lindsey nodded, not knowing why, but she did know her mom would explain when they hit the road. And she was right, after collecting the hot beverages and pulling back onto the roads Catherine explained everything that had happened in the last few days while at work, ending with the news that the surgery was to repair bullet wounds. Now Lindsey was panicking and knew her mother was too. She insisted that she go to the hospital with her instead of her dance classes. She even called the dance academy herself and said that her uncle was in the hospital and that she would be back next week, hopefully.

The two Willows women pulled back into the hospital parking lot and headed back to the waiting room. Lindsey was happy to see her mom's team and family there, besides Greg, but she knew he'd be back as soon as his return plane landed.

She sat in between Sara and her mother and held her mom's hand while resting her head on Sara's shoulder. The two had developed a bond while Sara investigated her father's death and the teen was happy to see her back in Vegas.

Three hours later and both Brass and Ecklie came in. Brass updated the group on the case, stating that it appeared that it seemed their mole had shot Warrick. Conrad said that his dayshift CSI's had processed the scene and that they could start looking over the evidence too, after all they knew Warrick better than the CSI's he had on the case.

Gil said that he and Nick would come to CSI and start as soon as they knew Warrick was out of surgery. Brass sat down and Ecklie left, picking up the evidence from the ER as he left. Another three hours and the surgeon came out after cleaning the blood from his scrubs and surgeon's smock; he was still wearing his scrub hat. He approached them and said that Warrick's gunshot nicked his artery, but didn't sever it. There was too much damage to see if it did anything to his vocal chords, though because of swelling in his neck, there would be a little effort needed to speak until the swelling went down.

Warrick still wasn't out of the clear, the next 24 hours would be crucial and if he made it through them, his chances increased exponentially. He said that a nurse would come get them when he was settled in his room in the ICU; they could all stay until 7:30 that evening, then only one person could stay. They agreed and the surgeon went on his rounds.

Twenty minutes later a nurse came out to lead them back into the rooms. She gave Lindsey a glare, not sure if the teen could be calm around her patient, and Lindsey rolled her eyes right back as Catherine glared at the nurse on her daughter's behalf. The nurse left, with the parting words that even though his condition was critical he still looked worse than he was because of the monitors attached to him so telemetry could monitor him remotely.

The nurse was right. Warrick was ashen, the lack of color making his skin look like a burnt log instead of the coffee with cream and sugar skin tone he usually had. Catherine's heart was pulsing in her chest and she took a seat next to him and pulled his hand into her own and just held it. Lindsey grabbed a chair and pulled it next to her mom and held the two adults hands in hers as she rested her head against her mom's shoulder.

Nick sat at the foot of the bed, head resting in his hands as he silently prayed while Grissom and Sarah took the opposite side, both of them holding Warrick's other hand just as Lindsey and Catherin were. The five of them were silent for close to three hours, each lost in their own heads and thoughts.

Catherine's phone rang at the three hour mark and the woman was to zoned out in her thoughts to hear the ringing, but Lindsey had and took her mom's phone and went into the hall. She checked the Caller ID, and answered seeing as it was her grandmother. Lily called, wondering if she needed to pick Lindsey up from dance as she was in that neighborhood and knew her daughter needed sleep.

"Hello," Lindsey answered the phone, sounding exactly like her mother.

"Cath, honey it's mom, did you need me to grab Lindsey while I'm over here near the academy?" She asked, slightly distracted as she talked on the phone and drove at the same time.

"No Grandma, I didn't go to Dance today." Lindsey giggled at her grandmother.

"Oh, Lindsey you sound exactly like your mom," Lily told her granddaughter before asking a different question. "Why didn't you go to dance today Little Lady?"

"Because Mom told me that Warrick was in the hospital after being shot, so I'm here with Mom, Warrick, Nick, Sarah and Uncle Grissom." She answered and Lily nodded even though Lindsey couldn't see.

"Oh, sweetie is he okay, is your mom okay?" Lily asked knowing that both her girls were close to the dark skinned CSI, her daughter especially close to the injured man.

"The next couple of hours is critical for his recovery, and he's in critical condition right now; attached to all these machines and pale for a dark skinned man." She sighed and knew it was tearing her mom up inside.

"Well then I'll come by to pick you up at the end of visiting hours, as I'm assuming your mom is staying there." Lily told her granddaughter who acknowledged her before hanging up and returning to the room.

The next few hours were more of the same, sitting around the bed in near silence, only one person left the room at a time to get black coffee for everyone to keep them awake during a time when most of them would be asleep before work.

When visiting hours were almost over, Lily showed up with a change of clothes and toiletries bag for her daughter and hugged both her girls and Sarah and Nick. Grissom was kind of in a daze and didn't look up. Lily stayed until visiting hours were over then took Lindsey home to finish her homework and get some real food. Nick headed into work, hoping they could start helping with the case. Sara, Nick and Catherine had a mini argument about who should stay.

Sara argued that she should stay and let Catherine and Gil get to work. But the two others didn't want to leave, after all Catherine loved him (yes she was now able to admit it to herself) and Gil was the one who found him. But eventually Sara won by using the fact that they could start looking for Warrick's shooter and she could watch Warrick and that she'd txt them updates every hour.

So the two supervisors left after Catherine changed in Warrick's bathroom and applied her make-up sitting talking with Sara who was making herself comfortable. When they left Sara pulled a book out of her large tote purse and reclined into her weird chair set up and started to read, one year tuned to the machines that displayed Warrick's vitals, ready to wait until graveyard shift ended.


	5. Chapter 5

For Life 5

They were finally able to guide the investigation, Day shift putting aside any aspirations to move up the ladder or contempt for the better shift in order to put someone who took out one of their own. Brass met with the cops who were going to be looking for their mole. Warrick Brown was their only case, per the Sheriff's orders and Mayer's blessing.

Grissom handled the lab evidence, getting copies of all the reports and the field reports. Catherine worked with the Day shift on their theories as Nick and Greg came up with their own. Day shift finished their shift and handed everything over to Graveyard who met in the conference room to review everything.

Sara had kept her word, sending updates via texts every hour to everyone: Girs, Cath, Nick, Greg, Brass and Ecklie. Ecklie passed on the updates to the Sheriff and his Undersheriff.

So they were all up to date on Warrick when they meet up and discussed evidence. The casings recovered in the car were the same caliber and fired from the same gun, which was wiped clean and left on the passenger seat of the car. It looked like a mob hit and Nick thought that Pritchard had been taking lessons from Gedda. The serial number had been wiped off and couldn't be etched back, so Cath was leaving a note for whatever day shift picked it up tomorrow to check the inside of the grip and see if that one was still readable.

When everyone presented all the evidence Day shift had gathered, they moved onto Day shift's theories. They seemed to think it was their mole, Pritchard, and that he'd been taking lessons from his mob boss. Something was bothering Cath, but it took her until the end of the meeting to put it into words.

"What did Warrick's car look like?" She asked and Nick answered.

"Blood in the passenger seat, window on that side down as there wasn't any glass present on that side, gun on the floor of the car, one casing next to it and the other on the dashboard, and GSR on the headliner of the passenger side of the car." He said from memory, checking the file only a few times.

"Why was his passenger side window down?" Gil asked, catching onto what Cath was getting at.

"Maybe he was hot." Greg said as he entered the room with a few more files that looked to be simple paperwork.

"Then why did he roll down the passenger side and not his own?" Nick asked, also clueing in. "I'm making a note for Day shift to print the knob on the stereo and note the volume level when the car is on." He said as he jotted down the note and put it in the file of the car's evidence and reports.

"So, we're partially in agreement with Day Shift's theory as the evidence and McKean's testimony corroborates it and we have a few pieces of evidence outstanding to that theory. Brass has officers at every airport terminal and train station in the greater Vegas Area. He has associates in other cities on t the lookout for him and Customs and Border Patrol are also on the lookout with Pritchard's mug. He has other officers tracking down the known associates and friends and family to try and track him down. His car is in the wind as is he," Gil summarized and everyone nodded. "Okay, everyone start on their paperwork for any other case, use this time to catch up. I'm splitting up Warrick's room among us all and will see if someone from Days will come in and start on the pieces we want them to check. Leave when you hand in the paperwork to me or Cath, preferably her and she'll hand it all in to me." He finished and everyone stood up and moved to various places in the lab to do as the boss-man said.

Catherine was first finished with her portion, just as Gil entered with a small stack of files, her portion of Warrick's work. He left to finish handing the files out and Cath got back to work finishing most of the work, and just needed his signature. She left her office and headed to Warrick's cubicle in the back of the building and placed the files on his desk and returned to her office and twiddled her thumb until Greg and Nick came in with their files.

The three of them chatted for a while before leaving to get some sleep, agreeing to meet up at the hospital when visiting hours opened. The boys headed to the locker rooms as Cath headed to Gil's office to drop off the files.

"Our files are complete and Warrick's just need his signature," she said and dropped the stack, already organized by case and case number onto the corner of Gil's desk. He still had a few more files to go and she waited for him, looking around his office like she always did.

When Gil was finished the two of them headed to the locker rooms just as the boys were leaving. They hurried to change into comfortable clothes before Gil followed Cath to the hospital and entered the room with her and collected Sarah before the couple returned to Gil's place and Catherine took watch over Warrick.

Warrick slept still, but his pulse was strong and the machine breathing for him was barely needed now. 30 minutes after she arrived a nurse came in and recorded his vitals and brought a pillow and folded blanket for the exhausted blonde. Cath took it with a grateful smile and wrapped the blanket around her as her hand held his.

She stayed awake until the doctor came in and told her he was doing as well as could be expected and that they were almost to the 24 hour mark. If he passed that mark, his recovery would be more guaranteed. He also added that they would keep him sedated for a few more days to allow his neck more time to heal then they'd remove the artificial lung and intubate him instead. She thanked him before leaning over and kissing Warrick's cheek before resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

Lily and Lindsey knew that Cath would go straight to the hospital and so weren't worried when she didn't come home. Lilly took Linds to school before returning to the house and cleaning it for her two girls. When that was done Lilly made a few phone calls and tried to keep busy until she left to pick Linds up and return to the house to let Lindsey change out of the uniform and into comfortable clothes and packed some for Cath before the two of them headed to the hospital.

They arrived at the same time as Gil and Sarah. The four of them entered Warrick's room to the sight of Cath still asleep on Warrick's shoulder. A nurse came in behind them with a rollaway cot and Lily and Gil helped get Cath to the bed and placed her head on the pillow that came with the blanket.

Sarah and Gil sat on one side of Warrick and Lily took the other as Lindsey sat on the foot of the rollaway and did her homework. Lindsey quickly finished her work, asking Grissom for help on her science homework before putting it in her backpack. Her mother was still sleeping so Lindsey got off of the roll away and headed to the cafeteria and picked up coffee for everyone in the room.

Her mother was awake when she got back and was giving everyone an update. Lindsey passed the coffee around and sat back down on the bed. Nick and Greg came in with their own coffee and a thing of donuts for everyone.

Gil gave Cath the day off so she could sleep in her own bed and spend time with Lindsey and Sarah was already prepared to spend all night with Warrick. Greg would come in after his shift and stay until visiting hours then the cycle would repeat with Nick taking Greg's spot. Brass stopped in after being dropped off as Ecklie headed out on a lead from one of the officers tracking Pritchard.

He updated them all, Lily and Lindsey both having taken a trip to the ladies room, on the tips they had left Day shift after their brainstorming of the previous night. Day shift was returning after Swing shift to meet up with them to pool resources and exchange theories and get the case solved and let the POs search for Pritchard. He then stayed until visiting hours were over and everyone returned to work except for Sarah, Lindsey, Lily and Cath. Sarah stayed at the hospital with the still sleeping Warrick, Lindsey and Cath returned to their own home and Lily returned to hers.

Lindsey finished the few problems she had left before making simple soup as her mom slept on the couch to be near Lindsey and her plugged in phone. She woke up a few hours later when Lindsey turned on the TV to watch some mindless teenage show and she walked into the kitchen and reheated the bowl of sleep Linds left her in the fridge before rejoining her daughter to watch the evening TV show before the two women headed up to the bed to sleep for the night.


End file.
